THE IMPORTANCE OF
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Medicine Needs YOU
… African Americans, Latinos/as, and Native
Americans comprise 25 percent of the U.S.
population, but only 12 percent of US medical
student graduates and only 6 percent of physicians
in practice...
taken from http://www.AspiringDocs.org
So we’re offering our advice in hopes that you will
be able to join the ranks and thereby increase the
percentages.
Important Considerations:
There is no magic formula for getting into
medical school.
We, Penn Med students, didn’t have an
identical journey to medical school.
How to Get Ready for the Medical School
Application Process
Rule #1: Decide to devote a significant time
commitment to preparing for medical school
Rule #2: Research national medical school
acceptance data based upon GPA and MCAT scores
Rule #3: Review academic qualifications, curriculum,
first year class profile and demographics of medical
schools which interest you
Rule #4: Seek advise from those well-versed in the
medical school application process
Rule #5: Develop your plan for success
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Confer with premed advisors, faculty mentors,
and medical students who can support you
through the medical school preparation
process.
Attend a medical school recruitment fair to
learn from representatives about their schools
http://www.aamc.org/calendar/careerfairs
The MSAR aka Your Best Friend
The Medical School Admissions
Requirements (MSAR) profiles ever
medical school in the US, Canada
Check the MSAR well before applying
to see what that school’s numbers are,
their requirements, and their curricula
For example, more and more schools
require biochemistry, and same require
two semesters of calculus
Another Essential Text: MOUSMS
* Review Minority Student Opportunities in US
Medical Schools (MOUSMS) – learn about
recruitment, applicant and matriculant data by
gender, race and ethnicity; summer
programs, educational partnerships, etc.
My Credentials
I am a wonderful, amazing person who
rescued children from burning houses
built 50 houses with my bare hands by myself
for 50 different families
volunteered in the ER
holds leadership positions in 10 different
organizations
it doesn’t matter that I have a 2.9 GPA and a
25 MCAT score, right???
Sorry, It Does Matter
Don’t bank on being the outlier case
It’s stressful to take that risk (both financially and
emotionally)
No one will see how wonderful you are unless
your numbers get by the screening
THE NUMBERS
The Numbers
Medical School Admission Committees WILL
NOT read every applicant’s personal statement
and the rest of the application.
Every school has to screen its applications to
reduce the number of applications they
actually have to read
Once the screening process is done, then they
start reading the applications
What Do They Screen?
GPA
MCAT
(Medical School Admissions Test)
Fact and Figures https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/
Table 19: MCAT scores and GPA’s for Applicants and Matriculants to US
Medical Schools by Race and Ethnicity, 2009
Calculating Your Chances: Applicant
Pool and Matriculants, 2008-2010 (taken from Table 24
AAMC Facts and Figures- https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicationt/matriculant)
MCAT
GPA:
2.802.99
18-20
Acceptees
21-23
24-26
27-29
30-32
33-35
36-38
39-45
17
56
89
65
33
8
.
.
Applicants
216
259
220
118
51
13
.
.
Acceptance
Rate
2.7%
6.3%
21.4%
26.3%
36.8%
50.0%
.
.
For example, if you have a 2.9 and a 25
total MCAT…
2009-2010 Penn Med URM Median
Applicant Pool and Matriculants
URM Applicants
GPA
Science
All Other
Overall
MCAT
VR
PS
BS
WS
2009/2010
3.48
3.67
3.48
2009/2010
9.0
10.0
10.0
P
URM First Year Matriculants
GPA
Science
All Other
Overall
MCAT
VR
PS
BS
WS
2010
3.68
3.77
3.71
2010
11.0
12.0
12.0
Q
Max GPA 4.0
Max MCAT 45 T (15 each section)
Questions?
2008 and 2009 Coordinator:
Amanda Crichlow, MS4 - crichlow@mail.med.upenn.edu
2010 Coordinators:
Juron Foreman, MS4 - juronsf@mail.med.upenn.edu
Derek Mazique, MS1- mazique@mail.med.upenn.edu
Alyssa Reyes, MS1 - alreyes@mail.med.upenn.edu
GOOD LUCK!
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